I entered this short story in a Contest, the parameters were that it had to be under 1,500 words and a Theme of “Boundless”. It turned out to be a speculative fiction idea, a sort of superhero / villain origin story, with heavy use of dialog to replace what a comic book / graphic novel (or a movie) would show visually. The concept is an old one, that of using plants to alter our bodies. Some give us a rush, some make us sleepy, some make us hallucinate! I wondered what if a specific plant (in this case, a flower) could give a person some sort of ‘power’.
This is the first section, the entire story can be read over at Short Fiction Break, and once the contest is over, I will post the entire story (rules of the contest, totally understand and support).
https://shortfictionbreak.com/the-disappearing-senior-year/
Around 200 other short stories are also posted from the contest, I enjoyed reading authors from around the world and their take on Boundless.
https://shortfictionbreak.com/fall-20/
Enjoy!
The Disappearing Senior Year
Wednesday, 6:12 am
“The grey ones?”
“No, those are already dying, you want the translucent ones?”
“The what?”
Brock sighed. Maybe this was a bad idea.
“The ones that are almost clear. See through. Like a car window with a really light tint.”
“Ohhh, now I understand. Hey, here’s one!”
Brock stood and followed the sound of Joey’s voice to see his friend holding his clenched hand up, full of green plants. He sighed and walked over.
“Hey, guys, listen. Remember those cool experiments in Mrs. Keaton’s science class last year?”
A chorus of agreement echoed from Joey, Saul, and Tony.
“Well, if we can find the right flowers, I guarantee this will be even cooler than when we swiped that big box of potassium chloride and that five-gallon bucket of hand sanitizer and set off that ten-foot high purple flame at the back of the auditorium during assembly.”
A wave of ‘yeahs’ and grins let Brock know he had their attention now.
“Ok, so what we need is to find this exact plant that Joey found...”
Joey held out an open hand, grinning like a fool as Brock plucked the leaves from his hand.
“...except we don’t want to crush them, because now they are useless!” Brock glared at his friend.
Joey lowered his hand and mumbled a response.
“Hey, look, over here!” Saul shouted, pointing to a patch of green behind Joey. The boys crouched around the foot high plant, staring intently as Brock carefully teased out four individual petals and pulled them ever so gently, removing them from their stalks and gathering them with the same care a mother gives her newborn.
Rising up, they watched as Brock gingerly placed one in his mouth.
“Now, the trick is, you have to grind it up with your teeth really well, and then let the pieces sort of just lay on your tongue for a minute or so. Try not to swallow them or you’ll have to find another flower and start over.”
They watched as Brock chewed. “Oh, I forgot. Before, well, before...here, put out your hands, let me give all of you one. Just be really careful, don’t crush it.”
Brock placed a flower petal gently in each of their palms. Each stared down, intently focusing on babying it, carefully preventing the wind from blowing it away.
“Dude! Brock, where are you?”
They spun in circles, looking everywhere around them. There was nowhere for their friend to disappear in this open field, and yet when they looked up from their hands, he had suddenly vanished.
They heard his laughter right in front of them. Their heads swiveled, looking in vain for Brock.
“Guys, guys! You can’t see me, but you can join me. Put the flower petal in your mouth and slowly chew it. This is gonna change your life.”
To read more, please visit the contest page - https://shortfictionbreak.com/the-disappearing-senior-year/
Thanks!